Rubin To Defend Nursery Operators

Miami lawyer Ellis Rubin will represent the operators of a Hollywood child- care center who have refused orders by Broward County officials to be fingerprinted.

Rubin said Tuesday he will represent Michael Von Wezyk, owner of the Kiddie Korner Day Nursery, and Catherine Anderson, director of the center.

``They need help and would seem to be all alone, and they seem to have a point,`` he said. Rubin said he would not charge a fee for his services.

``If the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately rules that everybody that does business in Florida must submit to fingerprinting in order to stay in business, they will comply,`` Rubin told reporters inside the Kiddie Korner building at 906 N. 62nd Ave.

Wezyk and Anderson claimed they could not afford a lawyer, and the American Civil Liberties Union declined to represent them.

Last month, Broward Circuit Judge Paul Marko ordered Wezyk and Anderson to comply with the county fingerprinting ordinance or stop caring for children. On May 6, he found them in contempt of court for refusing either option.

Several days later, however, they were saved from a possible jail sentence so the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach could review the case.

Rubin said he might seek a new hearing before Marko.

Marko had agreed with the county`s arguments that government has a legitimate interest in protecting children that supersedes the rights of child care workers to the privacy of their own fingerprints.

Rubin said that balancing the rights of children to a safe environment against Wezyk`s and Anderson`s privacy rights ``is not a fair test. No one is endangering the lives of little children here.``

He also said the current law discriminates against child-care workers because fingerprints are not also required of all teachers or coaches who come into contact with children.

In his own investigation of Wezyk and Anderson, Rubin said he found ``they have nothing to hide.``